TY - JOUR
T1 - Graphene Size-Dependent Multifunctional Properties of Unidirectional Graphene Aerogel/Epoxy Nanocomposites
AU - Han, Ne Myo
AU - Wang, Zhenyu
AU - Shen, Xi
AU - Wu, Ying
AU - Liu, Xu
AU - Zheng, Qingbin
AU - Kim, Tae Hyung
AU - Yang, Jinglei
AU - Kim, Jang Kyo
N1 - Funding Information:
The project was supported by the Research Grants Council (GRF Projects: 16203415 16229216, and 16205517) of Hong Kong SAR. N.M.H. was a recipient of the Bai Xian Asian Future Leaders Scholarship, whereas Z.W. and X.S. were recipients of the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship. Technical assistance from Materials Characterization and Preparation Facilities (MCPF) Advanced Engineering Materials Facilities (AEMF), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Division of Biomedical Engineering at HKUST is appreciated.
Funding Information:
The project was supported by the Research Grants Council (GRF Projects: 16203415, 16229216, and 16205517) of Hong Kong SAR. N.M.H. was a recipient of the Bai Xian Asian Future Leaders Scholarship, whereas Z.W. and X.S. were recipients of the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship. Technical assistance from Materials Characterization and Preparation Facilities (MCPF), Advanced Engineering Materials Facilities (AEMF), Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Division of Biomedical Engineering at HKUST is appreciated.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/2/21
Y1 - 2018/2/21
N2 - Unidirectional graphene aerogels (UGAs) with tunable densities, degrees of alignment, and electrical conductivities are prepared by varying the average size of precursor graphene oxide (GO) sheets between 1.1 and 1596 μm2. UGAs prepared using ultralarge GO (UL-UGA) outperform those made from small GO in these properties. The UL-UGA/epoxy composites prepared by infiltrating liquid epoxy resin into the porous UGA structure exhibit an excellent electrical conductivity of 0.135 S/cm, along with an ultralow percolation threshold of 0.0066 vol %, which is one of the lowest values ever reported for all graphene-based composites. Owing to their three-dimensional interconnected network, a high degree of alignment, and effective reduction, UL-UGAs effectively enhance the fracture toughness of epoxy by 69% at 0.11 vol % graphene content through unique toughening mechanisms, such as crack pinning, crack deflection, interfacial debonding, and graphene rupture. These aerogels and composites can be mass-produced thanks to the facile, scalable, and cost-efficient fabrication process, which will find various multifunctional applications.
AB - Unidirectional graphene aerogels (UGAs) with tunable densities, degrees of alignment, and electrical conductivities are prepared by varying the average size of precursor graphene oxide (GO) sheets between 1.1 and 1596 μm2. UGAs prepared using ultralarge GO (UL-UGA) outperform those made from small GO in these properties. The UL-UGA/epoxy composites prepared by infiltrating liquid epoxy resin into the porous UGA structure exhibit an excellent electrical conductivity of 0.135 S/cm, along with an ultralow percolation threshold of 0.0066 vol %, which is one of the lowest values ever reported for all graphene-based composites. Owing to their three-dimensional interconnected network, a high degree of alignment, and effective reduction, UL-UGAs effectively enhance the fracture toughness of epoxy by 69% at 0.11 vol % graphene content through unique toughening mechanisms, such as crack pinning, crack deflection, interfacial debonding, and graphene rupture. These aerogels and composites can be mass-produced thanks to the facile, scalable, and cost-efficient fabrication process, which will find various multifunctional applications.
KW - epoxy composites
KW - fracture toughness
KW - graphene aerogel
KW - percolation threshold
KW - size effect
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042352706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.7b19069
DO - 10.1021/acsami.7b19069
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 29388759
AN - SCOPUS:85042352706
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 10
SP - 6580
EP - 6592
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 7
ER -